


The Perfect Dance Partner

by KucatsHouse



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Domestic Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Happy Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, M/M, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Fluff, Post-Book 6: City of Heavenly Fire, The Bane Chronicles: Saving Raphael Santiago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-04-23
Packaged: 2020-01-25 15:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18577474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KucatsHouse/pseuds/KucatsHouse
Summary: One dreary day, Magnus and Alec dance together, reminiscing about the past.





	The Perfect Dance Partner

**Author's Note:**

> Characters and original story the property of Cassandra Clare.
> 
> For Shadowhunters(TV) readers: this work of fan fiction is heavily based on the Mortal Instruments book series and takes characters and events from the Bane Chronicles and the Red Scrolls of Magic. I hope you enjoy the story all the same.
> 
> Author Notes: I wrote this while listening to lovely by Billie Eilish & Khalid. Even though I wrote Malec listening to jazz music, I actually was not listening to jazz music.

The sky was a dark menacing gray. Rivers of rain pelted the city, drenching everything and everyone in a cold, unceasing cascade. Now and again, thunder would rumble in the distance. It was the kind of day where you should stay inside if you had no good reason to be out.

As it turns out, Magnus found himself with an unexpected day off. A number of clients had cancelled their meetings or arrangements, awaiting better weather for a demonic spell or summoning. Mundanes always cancelled plans when the weather was poor, as if summoning evil to curse their enemies required good weather. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have been irritated at the loss of productivity or compensation - or both. But, the prospect of spending some quiet time with Alec outweighed his frustration with fickle, indecisive mundanes.

Jazz music played from the stereo as Magnus lounged on the couch. He had his legs drawn up, a thick book borrowed from Tessa perched on his knees, long fingers slowly turning the ancient looking pages. He was dressed for a day out of the public eye, sporting a simple white shirt with geometric blue shapes and jeans. Alec sat on the floor next to him, back against the couch. He too was reading but from a much thinner, well worn notebook filled with looping flowing script.

They sat in companionable silence, music filling the air in place of voices. Magnus let his left arm hang, wrist resting on Alec’s shoulder. Now and again his fingers would idly play with strands of the Shadowhunter’s dark hair. Alec leaned into the touch but made no other movement except to flip a page.

After a few moments Alec lifted his head, his gaze ahead but unfocused. He chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip before turning to look at Magnus over his shoulder. “What happened to her?” he asked quietly.

“What happened to who?” Magnus inquired without looking away from the page he was scanning. “If you are referring to Isabelle, I would have thought you would know better what your sister is up to. Unless you mean Clary. Then, I would suspect biscuit is wherever Jace is.”

“I meant Etta,” Alec replied. His blue eyes were fixed on Magnus’ face, watching closely. “What happened to her?”

At the sound of that beloved name, Magnus slowly lifted his eyes. He could feel Alec’s gaze on him but his own was elsewhere. Memories of the 1930s came back in a wave, enhanced by the upbeat jazz music. For a time Magnus lost himself in the past, in days that were both more difficult and easier than the present. Coming back to himself, he glanced down at the notebook in Alec’s hands, spread open to reveal his own handwriting filling the pages.

“I lost track of her after a little while,” Magnus finally admitted. “I believe she married and had children. She always wanted a family.” In that moment, he felt guilty. Magnus had not made a great effort to stay in touch with Etta, but they had both moved on. It was often easier to lose touch than to feel the acute heart ache that always came with a mortal loved one’s passing. He grew silent, lost in what ifs and a thousand possible outcomes that never came true.

Setting the notebook aside, Alec turned towards Magnus, resting a hand on his leg. His voice was soft when he spoke again. “Do you miss her?”

“A little.” Magnus shut his own book, tossing it towards the opposite end of the couch. His fingers sought out the skin at Alec’s neck, needing the warm touch to ground him. “She always made me feel free. She was a mundane, removed from the Shadow World. But she knew who I was; I didn’t have to pretend I was any different around her. I never told her everything, but I didn’t have to lie either.”

“But…?”

Magnus smiled, his gold-green eyes meeting blue. Alec had always been able to decipher his change in moods. He didn’t know when it had started, but Magnus found it rather endearing. “But, she was still a mundane not a part of the Shadow World. She didn’t want immortality. She wanted what many people want: a family, children, and a quiet life. I could never give her any of that. In the end, we let each other go. I lost track of her, but I know she was happy in the end. Still, I miss her sometimes and the fun we had.”

Alec listened to Magnus quietly, taking it all in. Magnus was looking directly at him, but his eyes were glazed and unfocused as he recalled the past memories. “What do you miss most?”

He thought on that question a while. Etta had been with him nearly fifteen years; they shared a lot of good moments. “The dancing,” Magnus finally said. “We danced almost every night. Nothing special, but it was our routine. Just the two of us.”

“Can you show me?”

Magnus sat quietly, processing Alec’s request. After a moment of deliberation, a slow smile lit up his face as he swung his long legs off the couch. Taking Alec’s hands in his own, he pulled them both to their feet. With a wave of his fingers the furniture shifted back, providing them some space. Magnus draped Alec’s left arm over his shoulder before pulling him close. He twined the fingers of Alec’s right hand in his left, the Lightwood ring clinking lightly with one of his own. Gently, they began to move in time with the music, their bare feet padding softly on the rug.

“What brought all this on?” Magnus asked quietly. He felt Alec tense a little before relaxing into the dance.

He didn’t answer Magnus right away, instead saying “This reminds me of Venice.” Their dance in Venice had been interrupted by bickering warlocks, but it had been memorable nonetheless. It had been the first time they danced together, a brief moment of pleasure in the midst of a whirlwind adventure. They hadn’t had many such opportunities since. “You did this almost every night?”

“Whenever we could. Sometimes at the club, sometimes here. As often as we could manage.”

They fell into silence as their bodies moved together. Even as the music changed, increasing in tempo, they kept a slow, steady sway. Magnus marveled at how dancing with Alec could feel so similar to his memories of Etta. He had found it so easy to fall into a rhythm with both of them. There was never any awkwardness, never the need to figure out how to move together; it just all happened.

And yet, the differences were just as striking. With Etta, Magnus always led. It was partially a product of the time period, but it was also how Etta was. She moved where he moved; he led, and she followed. But Alec would sometimes initiate the steps, and Magnus would match him. Alec gave as much as he got, a result of his time period and training. With Alec, the dance became an equal partnership, their movements syncing effortlessly. It was much like how they fought together on a battlefield.

Alec sighed quietly, his eyes falling shut as he pressed his brow against Magnus’ jaw. They unclasped hands at the same moment. Magnus’ arm went around his waist at the same time his hand went up, wrapping around the warlock’s neck. Fingers accustomed to plucking bowstrings rested lightly at Magnus’ nape, one thumb drawing slow circles behind Magnus’ ear. A thousand thoughts swirled around Alec’s head. So many things he needed to say, but where to begin? He began with a simple, quiet, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

Alec pressed his face against Magnus’ neck, hiding his expression. His words came out soft, barely audible over the music. “For ever being jealous of everyone you’ve ever been with. It was petty of me.” He struggled with the words, with the tangle of emotions. Magnus didn’t speak, and Alec was grateful for the silence, for the time to collect his thoughts properly. “Etta, Imasu, even Camille…you love with your whole heart because of them. You care the way you do because everyone you’ve ever loved cared about you. Loving them made you the best possible version of yourself. Without them, Rome would have been very different.” The fingers at Magnus’ neck tightened their grip slightly as Alec remembered their nearly ill-fated trek to Rome. “Without them, I don’t think we would be here together, dancing like this. I’m grateful to them.”

Magnus felt his heart swell at the words. Alec’s jealously regarding his past lovers had severed their relationship for a time. Both of them had been angry and miserable, but had since moved past all that…at least Magnus had assumed so. He had not thought Alec had lingering thoughts. Alec had never been good at expressing himself in words; for him to say so much and to finally come to terms with Magnus’ past - it made Magnus love him more.

His hand slid up Alec’s back and chest to cup his cheek. Magnus tilted Alec’s face up just that little bit until their lips met. Other movements stilled as they focused all their attention into the kiss. It was long, searching, filled with all the emotion they could pour into it but never voice. The kiss was full of the memories they shared, and the promise of all the days to come.

When they at last separated, slow matching smiles lit their faces.

“Can we keep dancing like this?” Alec asked.

“As often as you like,” came the reply. Magnus wrapped both arms tightly around Alec, fingers splayed against his back. Alec’s arms tightened around his shoulders and neck, his hold firm. They held each other close, bodies swaying once again in time to the music.

“Aku cinta kamu,” Magnus whispered into Alec’s ear. He both heard and felt Alec’s sigh, warm breath caressing his neck.

“I love you, too.”

They spent what seemed like hours, dancing close, forgetting the rest of the world. Lightning flashed, bright and close, followed by a rumble of thunder but they continued to hold on. For Magnus and Alec, there was nothing else but the music and the perfect dance partner.


End file.
